There were no sweet Easter goodies for the MSU baseball team Sunday, as it fell to Ohio State 13-3, finishing a four-game weekend home series.
Buckeyes pitcher Josh Newman was credited for the win, striking out four Spartan players in seven innings of play, while giving up only two runs.
MSU (17-18 overall, 4-10 Big Ten) is now one step farther away from qualifying to play in the six-team conference tournament, one that the Spartans haven’t participated in since 1994. The Buckeyes are 27-9 overall and 9-3 in the conference.
After pounding the Buckeyes 14-3 in game one of Saturday’s doubleheader, MSU head coach Ted Mahan said Sunday’s loss was a tremendous setback for the Spartans’ postseason future.
The Spartans were shut out in game two of Saturday’s doubleheader 4-0 and lost a 10-9 in Friday’s series opener.
“Since we lost three out of four games this weekend it definitely wasn’t a good series,” Mahan said of Sunday’s loss. “We have 12 conference games left to have a chance at fair season and a shot at qualifying for the Big Ten Tournament. It’s going to be extremely tough.”
Despite recording 12 hits compared to the Buckeyes’ 15, the Spartans failed to find consistency behind the plate throughout the game, going scoreless in five straight innings.
Sophomore outfielder Bob Malek, who leads the team and Big Ten in batting average with a .455 mark, said MSU struggled to get an offensive boost the entire game.
“We just didn’t get it done and it’s frustrating,” Malek said.
“There have been different types of problems each game. Today we had a lot of hits scattered throughout the game and could never really get going. Now it’s going to be even more difficult to qualify for the conference tournament.”
Ohio State bolted to an early 2-0 advantage in the first inning after a two-run homer by Doug Dendinger, who earned a game high four RBIs in the victory.
Malek’s sacrifice RBI in the second, bringing home junior outfielder Chris McCuiston, cut the lead within one (2-1).
Four Spartan pitchers saw action in the fourth, but struggled as the Buckeyes tallied four runs in the inning to pull the game out of reach.
Junior infielder Don Watchowski singled and later scored the team’s final run in the ninth inning.
MSU’s will next play Siena Heights at 3 p.m. Tuesday at Kobs Field.
